“Do not let fear control you.” A touching speech by Mona Zaki after she was honored at the El Gouna Film Festival

- On Thursday, the opening ceremony of the 9th session of the El Gouna International Film Festival in Egypt witnessed the honoring of Egyptian star Mona Zaki with the Lifetime Achievement Award. She gave an emotional speech after receiving the honor, in which she focused on the fear that has accompanied her throughout her career, and sent a message to young artists. Mona received her honor from director Mohamed Shaker Khudair, under whose direction she starred in the series “Under Guardianship,” which achieved critical and public success in the 2023 Ramadan drama season, while her fellow artists stood and applauded warmly to greet her.

Mona Khattab began receiving the honor with a bit of wit, recalling a word said by her fellow artist Fathi Abdel Wahab after he received the Best Actor Award for his role in the movie “Birds of the Nile”, at the conclusion of the 33rd session of the Cairo Film Festival in 2009: “Thank you... God is kind,” and she added, “He is indeed kind to me, and his kindness is great.”

The Egyptian star referred to the word “fear” that director Shaker Khudair said in his talk about her career, while presenting her to receive the award, and said in its meaning that “fear, rising and standing accompanies her throughout her life,” and she expressed to her fellow artists her appreciation for their support of her, wishing to remain surrounded by an “artistic family” like them. Mona continued her talk about the difficulties she faced, and the support she received in return, saying: “I hit the ground a lot.

“Oh, oh, and you are the ones who stopped me.” She thanked every director, author, and person behind the camera with whom she worked during her career, and said that she had learned from them and that they had supported her “very much,” noting that they knew when she was feeling tired and under extreme pressure, so they would take the initiative to stand by her and motivate her. She addressed the young artists by saying: “Don’t let fear control you, try to ignore it, and put it under your feet; Because fear is limiting.”

On the other hand, she expressed her belief that had it not been for her internal struggle with fear and her attempt to control it, she would not have presented anything of what she presented during her career, and she said to the effect: “It is a war that we must fight on the internal level, so that we can stand up again and continue,” and concluded by saying: “God willing, we will prevail.” Mona shared, on her official Instagram account, photos of her appearance at the opening ceremony of the 9th session of the El Gouna International Film Festival, and thanked those in charge of the festival, writing in English: “I was overwhelmed with feelings of emotion thanks to the amount of love and support I received from everyone.”

The artist Ahmed Helmy missed honoring his wife, the artist Mona Zaki, but he shared a video clip honoring her through the Stories feature on his official Instagram account, commenting with a large number of heart emojis. Lily, their eldest daughter, also sent a touching voice message to her mother, Mona, which was heard during her ascension to receive the honor, in which she said: “Thank you to every woman who made us stand by her, believe her, and see life through her eyes...

The activities of the 9th session of the El Gouna International Film Festival continue until the 23rd of this October, and at its opening ceremony, the festival presented a remarkable tribute to Egyptian lighting technician Hassan El Sayed for his career spanning 4 decades.